James Low - Dzogchen and Buddhist Teachings

This discussion dives into the nature of suffering and the roots of unawareness. It examines how identity is a constructed phenomenon influenced by societal roles, contrasting it with the true essence of the mind. The complexities of truth and the manipulative power of interpretation are also explored, emphasizing the importance of direct awareness. Lastly, it reflects on the illusory nature of substantial entities and the endless cycle of samsara, offering insightful perspectives on liberation from self-concern.

24th November 2024. Take it easy. James Low's Dzogchen retreat at Casa la Salle, Veciana (Barcelona), Spain, November 18-24, 2024. https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/take-it-easy-teaching-retreat-veciana-nov-2024/ This retreat focused on relaxing our reliance on habitual patterns of dualistic involvement so that the self-liberation of all experience becomes clear. We went through Patrul Rinpoche’s short text Self-Liberating Understanding, which is Chapter 10 in the book "Simply Being" "Simply Being" book: English: www.amazon.com/Simply-Being-Texts-Dzogchen-Tradition/dp/1907571019 Spanish: www.amazon.com/Simplemente-ser-James-Low/dp/8496478440 The texts are available in: English: https://simplybeing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Simply-Being-Text-Ch.-10-31-05-2023.pdf Spanish: https://simplybeing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Chapter-10-Spanish_2024-1.pdf Video at https://youtu.be/uMdJxFpukxM?si=7GO4nvLrKdRHE7yx

22th-23th November 2024. Take it easy. James Low's Dzogchen retreat at Casa la Salle, Veciana (Barcelona), Spain, November 18-24, 2024. https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/take-it-easy-teaching-retreat-veciana-nov-2024/ This retreat focused on relaxing our reliance on habitual patterns of dualistic involvement so that the self-liberation of all experience becomes clear. We went through Patrul Rinpoche’s short text Self-Liberating Understanding, which is Chapter 10 in the book "Simply Being" "Simply Being" book: English: www.amazon.com/Simply-Being-Texts-Dzogchen-Tradition/dp/1907571019 Spanish: www.amazon.com/Simplemente-ser-James-Low/dp/8496478440 The texts are available in: English: https://simplybeing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Simply-Being-Text-Ch.-10-31-05-2023.pdf Spanish: https://simplybeing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Chapter-10-Spanish_2024-1.pdf Video at https://youtu.be/4EbQgWwYSPI?si=7H7B_Z5AaY5TuzFu

20th-21th November 2024. Take it easy. James Low's Dzogchen retreat at Casa la Salle, Veciana (Barcelona), Spain, November 18-24, 2024. https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/take-it-easy-teaching-retreat-veciana-nov-2024/ This retreat focused on relaxing our reliance on habitual patterns of dualistic involvement so that the self-liberation of all experience becomes clear. We went through Patrul Rinpoche’s short text Self-Liberating Understanding, which is Chapter 10 in the book "Simply Being" "Simply Being" book: English: www.amazon.com/Simply-Being-Texts-Dzogchen-Tradition/dp/1907571019 Spanish: www.amazon.com/Simplemente-ser-James-Low/dp/8496478440 The texts are available in: English: https://simplybeing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Simply-Being-Text-Ch.-10-31-05-2023.pdf Spanish: https://simplybeing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Chapter-10-Spanish_2024-1.pdf Video at https://youtu.be/_CqCN3P0Lz4?si=G6aoqj5HpIvsdbQu

18th-19th November 2024. Take it easy. James Low's Dzogchen retreat at Casa la Salle, Veciana (Barcelona), Spain, November 18-24, 2024. https://simplybeing.co.uk/events/take-it-easy-teaching-retreat-veciana-nov-2024/ This retreat focused on relaxing our reliance on habitual patterns of dualistic involvement so that the self-liberation of all experience becomes clear. We went through Patrul Rinpoche’s short text Self-Liberating Understanding, which is Chapter 10 in the book "Simply Being" "Simply Being" book: English: www.amazon.com/Simply-Being-Texts-Dzogchen-Tradition/dp/1907571019 Spanish: www.amazon.com/Simplemente-ser-James-Low/dp/8496478440 The texts are available in: English: https://simplybeing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Simply-Being-Text-Ch.-10-31-05-2023.pdf Spanish: https://simplybeing.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Chapter-10-Spanish_2024-1.pdf Video at https://youtu.be/DG_p5BA54NI?si=qVqEQYIHyd53spzT

27th November 2024. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer. Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator. Index "(00:00) What is your view on the concept of spiritual bypassing?" "(01:05) How can we allow feelings without getting caught up in the stories about them?" "(05:19) How can we tell when our assessment of another person is true or is a reflection of our own blindness?" "(07:06) Many people who walk on the spiritual, but not necessarily religious path, connect with what they call god. It's not just a mere belief that god exists, but that god is a source of excellent spiritual abilities, such as healing, manifesting, performing miracles. What notion from dzogchen teachings would be the most accurate to describe this phenomena? Where is god, the creator of the universe, in relation to the ground? Is it the same thing? If not, what is the difference?" "(12:36) How is it that the mind seems to identify with the thoughts in the head, as in 'I think, therefore I am'?" "(17:52) What are the dzogchen methods devised to transform this relationship into a proper context, so that thinking is working collaboratively with feeling, intuition and instinct?" "(21:50) What is the next step once this relationship is properly recapitulated?" "(25:06) How is it that we seem to separate from an undividable non-dual source?" "(28:59) As the separation is only apparent, that is to say, not strongly real, what aspect of our apparent separate individual itself is experiencing that separation?" "(32:06) Referring to the subject of that phenomena as an ego, what are the most common obstacles preventing that ego from realizing its proper place?" "(35:07) I do the Guru Yoga of the White A and also a guided meditation that directs me towards paying attention to the thinker or the hearer or the center of consciousness. Do you see any potential issues with this combination practice?" "(36:10) Many famous teachers have said that all possible phenomena are like a magical illusion, a dream, or an echo. They are empty and without intrinsic existence. How does this relate to the bodhisattva vow? So, If you awaken from a dream, then you can go back to the dream to take care of the people who are stuck in it, believing in it. Can you go back into the dream? Especially because now you know that they are not real, so how could you help them?" "(39:05) Moreover, given that they are not real, why should we delay our liberation until other sentient beings are liberated, when in reality they don't have substance? And is the liberation of all beings a realistic aim?" Video at https://youtu.be/uBo3eUkhL8I?si=PH9jSdFbAisgMXlo

Dive into a profound exploration of suffering and its roots in ignorance and grasping at the illusion of reality. The discussion delves into the Four Noble Truths and how awareness can spark personal transformations. Contrasting narratives of a scholar and a laborer challenge the constructs of identity. Rich anecdotes illuminate the essence of love and the pursuit of truth beyond societal norms. The concept of dependent origination sheds light on our interconnected existence, urging reflection on how our perceptions shape reality.

30th October 2024. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer. Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator. "(00:00) I have experienced the truth of who we really are and I know that all that you speak about as being how it is. At the same time, the story of me and particular traumas that have happened seem to have an unshake reality in terms of thoughts. I find it difficult to formulate the precise question that needs to be asked, but speak about the relationship between the spiritual path and therapy." "(13:53) How would god be called in this tradition in the sense of the origin and essence of all? Vajrasattva? Samantabhadra? Rigpa?" "(17:46) When practicing dzogchen, do we still take refuge? For many years, I have followed a different Tibetan lineage. Do I simplify my refuge prayers and pray to a generic Buddha or do I change lineages? I seem to be transitioning." "(25:43) Talk about karma and evidence of past and future lives." "(34:06) Within awareness, is the noticing or the registering, as you call it, a different thing from thinking or conceptualizing about appearances? How is it different? How subtle is the distinction between the two ways of seeing things?" "(41:00) Elaborate on the meaning of the Tibetan word 'damtsik', when used in the context of a student-teacher relationship." Video at https://youtu.be/j1rgcWyjA9g?si=__k0Goeuc6yyLwZO

5th October 2024. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer. Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator. Index "(00:00:00) Introduction" "(00:07:54) As I become more conscious of my habits and patterns, I also become more conscious of the five poisons impacting my activity. For the five poisons to become the five wisdoms, is it simply in self-liberation that this occurs or is there more involved in this transformation?" "(00:27:47) How to remain with nonduality when you come into treatment in hospitals and also have to deal with other people's thoughts about how you are?" "(00:37:54) The teaching says that in order to find our true self, which is emptiness, we need to relax and open. In everyday situations, in everyday decisions, is it also best to just relax and open and see what emerges instead of analyzing the situation and thinking about what to do?" "(00:48:49) Texts on meditation often have references to states of absorption. What are these states and how do we recognize them? Are they signs of progress?" "(01:08:23) As a non-monastic practitioner and a working adult, it's often necessary to use emotional strategy and seemingly unkind actions to solve problems. To help one group of people not get into trouble, we will often have to put the other group of people causing harm in a precarious position. Anger and aggression are sometimes necessary especially in corporate fights, but, if people know we are buddhist practitioners, then they might say 'oh aren't you supposed to be compassionate? You're not supposed to get angry and be aggressive. Aren't you supposed to be gentle and kind?'" "(01:25:06) James mentioned, in a previous question, vipassana without a special focus, just attending to how I am in this very moment. In what way does this vipassana exploration differ from dzogchen meditation?" "(01:40:38) Through sadhana practice, we can connect with Guru Rinpoche both as the guru, the embodiment of all the teachers, and also as our yidam. Is there a difference in the quality and feeling tone of this connection in either case or more formally in the way the practice is done?" "(01:54:47) If it's right that in all the Mahayana path, karma is an illusion, then is karma cause and effect teaching less important in dzogchen?" "(02:06:32) Could you give some guidelines on how to start to meditate?" "(02:31:23) When I'm having an exchange with someone, either verbally or online, and the person feels they've made a mistake and reacts harshly, even though I feel it's out of self-defense, I still react inwardly. I find their reaction dishonest and it makes me pissed off. Why is this the case? I know it's not directed at me, it's what's happening for them, but I still react very strongly. Instead of turning to them with sympathy, I think that I don't want to have anything to do with someone like. I can then discipline myself and stay in contact and try to react well, but it seems contrived. Why is that? What is missing?" "(02:52:53) A Zen Roshi is being quoted and the quote is 'actualization is not just the manifestation of your individual experience of the truth. It is your life interconnected with the tree life, a bird's life, water's life, Spring's life, Autumn's life, in the life of the whole universe'. Does the term 'truth' apply also to dzogchen? Would that quote also be applicable to a dzogchen path?" "(02:56:34) Can you explain the White A? How to do it when and what it means?" "(03:11:40) Is the path of the bodhisattva a natural outcome of direct seeing or is it an extra relative construction that leads to direct seeing but does not have any relevance beyond it?" Video at https://youtu.be/cfJ9WvwzJ-8?si=kCjUiko-zyq9Qruu

3rd July 2024. James Low had invited questions from people watching his Zooms, which he began to answer. Note: the constant cuts in this video result from the removal of James Low's periods of silence, while waiting for the consecutive translation from the German translator. Index "(00:00) How to keep generosity going in the face of other loved one suffering, yet not caring for themselves?" "(07:48) How can I distinguish between simply being conscious of sitting during formal sessions and being aware in the state of presence?" "(14:31) On the cushion, I can maintain rigpa or awareness pretty stably, but struggle in daily activities. How can a lay person gradually bring rigpa into daily activities?" "(24:25) Can I do therapy to deal with various psychological problems and not talk about them in a way that makes them seem more and more real and important and definitive of how I am well?" "(34:15) I have practiced a Tibetan Buddhist spiritual path for many years. Now I am enjoying Dzogchen teachings. Do you think there would be a conflict in following both? And is that likely to be confusing?" "(35:30) I have insight into the structure of my problem, but that doesn't dissolve it. I have a tendency that I try to control, but I can't control. Finding difficulty especially with people who have qualities I admire would indicate there is a background problem with pride and, with that, envy." Video at https://youtu.be/3ARgDMU7rEM?si=XxBzYr3dNUyKgtiP